


times when silence has the loudest voice

by zombeesknees



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-09-15 11:05:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16932102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zombeesknees/pseuds/zombeesknees
Summary: The Doctor and Rose find a world of complete silence | Written many moons ago on LJ.





	times when silence has the loudest voice

Rose was hanging from a balcony. Not that this was out of the norm for her, as days went, at least not these days. What made this occasion so out of the norm and much more frightening was that this time she couldn’t scream for help.

Literally. 

She was still confused on that matter. They had stepped out of the TARDIS to a world of complete silence. There were bird-like creatures in the tree-like plants that were to all appearances singing, and yet nothing. They couldn’t hear the wind, or their own footsteps—and when Rose tried to ask the Doctor if this was normal for the planet, they discovered that the words they formed in their throats never made it past their lips. 

Clearly, this wasn’t normal. The Doctor had immediately assumed a concerned expression and begun fiddling with the sonic screwdriver. When they hurried back into the TARDIS they learned that the effect wasn’t permanent, and—after a quick scan of the area—it hadn’t taken long for the Doctor to pinpoint the source of the “temporal quiescence” and cobble together a machine that looked rather like a blender.

How they had gotten from there to here was something of a blur (and Rose was starting to get used to days that blurred like this, too, and sometimes she wondered if that was a good or bad thing), but what it all boiled down to was Rose was hanging off a balcony and she had no idea where the Doctor was or how she was getting out of this.

She knew no one was supposed to hear you scream in space, but this was ridiculous.

 

While Rose was losing feeling in her fingers and slowly slipping, the Doctor was struggling with a green-skinned man in a lab coat. While he hadn’t figured everything entirely out—which was unusual, given the magnitude of his intellect—he _did_ know that if the man activated the machine he was currently being throttled against, not only would this entire city explode, but the whole planet would be rendered silent for centuries. 

And while he should be focused on escaping the man’s suffocating grasp and finding a way to render him unconscious, the Doctor couldn’t stop wondering where Rose was. The last time he had seen her she was luring one of the masked henchmen away. That was at least ten minutes ago, and an alarm was buzzing in the back of his head. 

Rose was in trouble. He knew it in his bones. 

But then, when was Rose _not_ in trouble?

A metal pipe suddenly descended. The soundless _thunk_ still sent a shock through the air that could be felt if not heard, and the green man in the torn lab coat fell to the ground in a limp sprawl. 

The Doctor gasped for breath and massaged his neck, managing a quick head bob of thanks to the awkward boy holding the pipe with a nonplussed expression, before running off down the hall Rose had taken. 

 

_Doctor, where the hell are you?!_ Rose screamed inside her head. She tried not to panic, tried to focus on maintaining her grip on the metal handrail, but her brain kept turning toward the henchman laying on the ground several stories down, the masked creature who had put her in this precarious position before toppling to its own demise. She wondered if she’d splash as much when she hit the ground—

_Rose?_

_Doctor? How—_

_Where are you?_

_Hanging off a balcony. Not sure which floor._

_I’m on my way; just keep breathing._

_Easy for you to say!_

_I’ll have you know I was being strangled not a minute ago._

_Doctor — I’m slipping — oh God — I’m **slipping**._

_Hang on, just hang on. I’m almost there._ He could feel her fear echoing in his head. It was powerful enough to make his hearts constrict within his chest. He pushed himself even harder, running up the stairs three at a time, and hoped his endurance would hold out long enough.

Rose closed her eyes. She’d rather not see the ground as it rushed up to meet her. She took a last deep breath just as the railing slipped from her fingers, and thought, _Doctor, I—_

But she wasn’t falling. There was a familiar hand around her arm, tight as a vise and perfectly steady. She opened her eyes, and had to blink at the sudden brightness. The sun was beginning to set behind the building, and the last rays made a halo around the Doctor’s head. She almost wanted to laugh at the cinematic quality at the moment, but right then she was far too relieved to be cynical.

He helped her over the railing and caught her as she staggered against him, her arms weak from strain and her legs jellified from fear. She could feel his hearts thundering in his chest as she buried her face against his suit jacket and clutched at the fabric. 

They stood for several moments like that, his arms supportive around her, her body shaking with fatigue as sweat ran down both his and her backs. 

Finally she straightened, saw the angry red marks around his neck, and opened her mouth to exclaim before remembering. He simply shrugged with a twist of his mouth. 

Rose’s eyes softened. Her hands were equally red and raw, but they felt strangely cool against his skin as she brushed her fingertips along his jaw line. Then she loosened his tie, unbuttoned the top of his collar, and stood on tiptoes to press her lips against his. One soft, quiet, chaste kiss. 

There was a sudden boom, a tremendous clap of air that seemed to contain every sound that had been suppressed for the past seven hours, and as Rose jumped back in surprise the sound filled the space between them. 

“…Doctor?”

“Rose?”

“…I didn’t do that, did I?”

“I rather think it was young Benjy, dismantling the machine downstairs according to the directions I gave his father. He’s a clever lad. Good arm with a pipe, too. He’ll go far, mark my words.”

“God, I’m glad to hear again. And talk again. Silence is more unnerving than I thought.”

“I’ve always thought silence is the edge of madness.”

“Most people, after hearing you blather on, would probably say otherwise.” Rose smiled, though it was a subdued, tired smile. “Doctor, how could I hear you in my head?”

“The Time Vortex. When you absorbed it, it changed you. Even after I took it back, it left its marks. You’re a bit more Time Lord than human in some ways. The telepathy is one of those ways.”

“How is it I never knew this before now?”

“Extreme situations can unlock certain abilities.” He didn’t tell her it was also because he’d nudged it to unlock, as he ran up the stairs. He felt instinctively that Rose would have felt that was a bit overstepping their boundaries, a bit _too_ invasive. 

“Can I do this with everyone?”

“Shouldn’t think so. Maybe with people who are already psychically inclined. With enough concentration and focus, perhaps. It would be much more difficult than with me, certainly.”

“Hmm. This could come in handy. Next time we’re cornered by twelve-legged Malkers or hungry Slitheen or possessed Ood, there won’t be a need to give away our brilliant plan by saying anything aloud.”

“Your brain works in an extremely surprising way sometimes, Rose.”

“…Doctor, can we go home? I think I need a bath, some aloe vera, and a nap.”

 

The Doctor bandaged her hands after her bath, after she had helped him salve his neck and gotten him a cold compress. They both felt the weight of the day’s exhaustion press against them, and when they were done they simply curled up on her bed together. His arm was a comforting presence around her waist, his chest was pressed against her back in a deliciously reassuring way, and it was fantastic to simply hear his even breathing in her ear. 

Later in the night, as she dreamt, she murmured his name. He smiled in his sleep.


End file.
